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Chemistry of Flerovium (Z=114)

  • Page ID
    31644
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    The synthesis of element 114 was reported in January of 1999 by scientists from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (near Moscow) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (in California). In an experiment lasting more than 40 days Russian scientists bombarded a film of Pu-244 supplied by Livermore scientists with a beam of Ca-48. One atom of element 114 was detected with a half-life of more than 30 seconds. This is about 100,000 times as long as the previously longest-lived isotope of 112 produced (element 113 has yet to be made) and bolsters the arguments of theorists who envision an "island of stability" in the super-heavy elements. In May of 2012 the IUPAC approved the name "Flerovium" (symbol Fl), in honor of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions where superheavy elements are synthesized.

    Contributors and Attributions

    Stephen R. Marsden


    Chemistry of Flerovium (Z=114) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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